Knocking On The School System's Door

Expelled Student Fights For Chance With Surry High

He knows an education is the only way to a decent job, and - in his hoop dreams - it's also the only way, the only possible chance, to get to play in the National Basketball Association.

But, since February, officials in the Surry County school system have balked at letting him in, and state law says they don't have to.

Samuel, 15, got into a fight at Turning Point Academy, a Chesterfield County school, in February 1996. School officials expelled him, and he spent the following year and a half at alternative schools.

In September 1997, he was admitted to John F. Kennedy High School, a regular public school in Richmond. He thought his life was back on track.

But when his family moved to Surry County, he found out that his past was not going to be so easy to shake. Samuel and his mother have spent nearly five months trying to convince Surry school officials to let him in.

When Sharon Smith, Samuel's mother, went to enroll him, she signed an affidavit, required by state law since 1996, saying he had been expelled in another school district.

In Surry, just as in all Virginia school districts, that kicked in a different procedure for enrollment. She met with School Board members in April. They expressed their concern about Samuel's history and asked her to have a psychological evaluation done.

She did that and presented the report to Alvin Wilson, assistant superintendent for administration and operations, in mid-May. Smith says Wilson told her then that Samuel would never be allowed into Surry schools.

Wilson will not talk about the case, even though Samuel's mother signed a consent form allowing him to do so.

But Sherlock Holmes, chairman of the Surry County School Board, says no final decision has been made. The board, he says, wants more information about Samuel's history.

Holmes said the board has not yet seen the evaluation, but he believes from conversations with Wilson that it is not complete enough. An additional letter from a psychiatrist saying Samuel is not a danger to himself or others is not good enough either.

"We couldn't accept him walking in one time and someone making a determination that he's not violent," Holmes said. "You can't do a psychological evaluation in one sitting."

Smith says that is news to her, and she does not understand what the board wants. She has been getting the run-around, she says, in dealing with the school system.

"If Mr. Wilson feels this is not what we asked for, he has the right to say that's not what we asked for," Holmes said. "If she feels like Mr. Wilson is not treating her fairly or is pushing her around, she can go to Dr. Penn, the superintendent. And if he wants to, he can come to us."

Smith says she has been trying to reach C.P. Penn for two months, and he has not returned her calls. Penn, who will retire on July 1, has not returned calls from the Daily Press.

State education officials say the school district is well within its rights to refuse to allow Samuel in.

If a child is expelled from any school for one of five offenses - drugs, weapons, alcohol, property damage or willfully causing bodily harm - other schools can refuse to admit the child for up to one year. At the end of the year, parents may request a hearing to ask for admission.

And that is where the state steps out of the picture and leaves the final decision up to each locality. There are no state laws or guidelines that cover readmitting a student after he or she has been expelled. What individual school districts do is up to them, said Diane Atkinson, a policy analyst for the Virginia Department of Education.

Although state law requires that children must be educated, once they are expelled, they are off the radar screen, said Charles Finley, who is also a policy analyst at the state education department.

"If they're excluded within what the law allows, that's it," Finley said.

Decisions to readmit students who have been expelled are handled on a case-by-case basis, say area school officials.

In some districts, such as Newport News, the final decision rests with an assistant superintendent. In others, such as Isle of Wight, the School Board has the final say. Those that have some type of alternative education program often offer that as a halfway step to allowing a child to return to regular public school, officials say.

Surry has such a program, and Smith could request that Samuel be placed there, Holmes said, although he offered no guarantee that he would be accepted.

"She didn't ask for that," Holmes said. "She asked for him to come into the regular high school."

He said the school system has to balance the needs of one child against those of all the rest.

"If something bad happens, everyone will blame the school system for coming to that decision to allow him in," he said.

Smith said she is frustrated with trying to figure out what Surry officials want in order to let Samuel into school. She met with an attorney this week, who she said will deal with the school system on her behalf from now on.

"My child has a goal, and I'm behind him," she said. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to get him in school."

- Judi Tull can be reached at 357-6392 from southside or 247-4926 from the Peninsula.